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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

...... "Whenever
a friend goes to Africa or is coming to America to visit, I ask them to
bring me this stuff," he followed up with. This is undoubtedly one of
the best gifts a friend can give, a piece of home.

After
nearly an hour of carefree cooking, the much-anticipated dish was
nearly complete. All that was now needed was the taste test. "Stick out
your hand," Ndikum said. Being the adventurous type, I cooperated and
before I knew it, egusi soup was splattered on my palm. "This is how we
do in Africa," said Ndikum, as I was instructed to lick it off my hand.
The savory base from the cow meat and oil livened my taste buds, while
the infused creamy tomato smoothed everything out; I couldn't wait to
dig in.

Just
as we sat down and began to pig out, a knock came from the door.
Mustafa, a Cameroonian man who lives in the same apartment complex as
Armyao, came in and immediately began talking about his car problems
that day. "It sucked man, I was so pissed," he said. To cheer him up, we
offered him some of the egusi soup and he politely declined. "Mustafa,
you must try this," I said, "it is delicious!". "No it is alright, I
have been trying that for my entire life," he cleverly stated. This
interaction only reinforced my understanding of how ingrained this dish
was to the West African culture.

I
have always cherished the rewarding nature of cooking; but cooking
alongside refugees, asylees, and the like, has expanded this juvenile
feeling into something that cannot simply be stated through words in
order to fully convey, but instead must be directly experienced. That
is, a sense of worldly connection.

Monday, November 26, 2012

With
all those food choices out there, it is hard to choose the right ones.
So Iskashitaa would like the chance to help you make those tough
decisions by reminding you why it is important to eat locally:

Local
produce has more time to ripen. Because local foods don't have to
travel long distances, they don't have to be sturdy, solid and harvested
too soon like their counterparts. That means we catch those fresh
fruits as they fall from the trees and create something delicious for
you.

It keeps open spaces! If you buy locally, you are
encouraging and supporting farmers with open spaces and giving them the
means to stay in business. This keeps nature present and discourages
industrialization.

You are in touch with the seasons. When you
buy locally, you are buying based on the harvest calendar. These will
not only keep you in touch with the seasons, but can be a great
knowledge base for those of you who are aspiring growers!

If these reasons weren't enough to tempt you to buy local, then maybe some of our products will. Currently available are Cactus Pickled Garlic, Garlic Olive Oil, Prickly Pear Syrup, Fiesta Salsa, Cinnamon Loquat Jam, Prickly Pear Jelly, and many more! All ingredients are harvested and prepared locally. They are available for purchase at:

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Kristen
Vellinger developed a passion for refugee rights when working on the
Save Darfur campaign in high school. Time living with a number of war
torn communities
in Central America made her realize the power of community leadership
in development, and furthered her desire to work with the refugee
community. In college, she worked to promote the empowerment of local
communities through international investing and microenterprise, but her
favorite activity by far was teaching ESL to adult and high school
students. Her senior thesis focused on the importance of community
leadership in women's development efforts. As the new AmeriCorps VISTA,
Kristen looks forward to working as Resource Coordinator to help further
Iskashitaa Refugee Network's transformational impact.

Iskashitaa is excited to welcome Kristin as a new staff member in November.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Thank
you all for helping to make our first annual United Nations Day
Breakfast Fundraiser on October 24th a success. We look forward to
seeing you October 24th, 2013! Thank you for all those in attendance and
for donating towards Iskashitaa Refugee Network. I hope you enjoyed the
delicious breakfast donated by Whole Foods, MYA Distributing, Bentley's
Coffee House and volunteers. We appreciate you taking the time to hear
about our mission, accomplishments and refugee stories despite your busy
schedules. Thank you for your engagement in this event with the purpose
of seeking support and expanding our community and network. If you were
not in attendance, you can find out more about Iskashitaa's progress
and mission on our website, Facebook page and/or watch this video! You can always donate to Iskashitaa online by clicking HERE!

With your support, Iskashitaa will continue to grow and help refugees reach Tucson resources.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Walking
through the center of the bustle at Tucson Meet Yourself in search of
an Iskashitaa banner, an overwhelming wave of smells, sounds and
movement crashed
my sense of focus. It didn't take me long to find what I was looking
for: the Iskashitaa crafts tables in the Folk Arts and Global Market
center. Covered with hand-woven baskets, palm leaves, scarves, and other
vibrant merchandise, the color-blasted tables were not hard to miss,
much less the smiling and welcoming faces of the Iskashitaa members.

I
introduced myself to the craft-makers and asked about their work. After
learning about the patient skill behind the palm-frond and recycled
plastic baskets, my interest directed itself towards the only child at
the table. Expecting a shy character, I was surprised when she jumped at
the questions directed towards her. Wondering which method she used to
make the colorful scarves, she offered to teach me how she finger weaves
each one, putting a whole new meaning behind the phrase "made by hand."
Watching her wrap the yarn around my fingers, I began to ask her about
herself and how she came to be the sweet Nepalese teen teaching the
silly American girl how to make her own clothes. Originally from Bhutan,
fifteen year-old Krishna told me about her family's journey.

A
sophomore at Catalina High School, Krishna came to Tucson with her
brother, sister, and mother in March of 2010. Before coming to America,
Krishna's family spent 18 years in a refugee camp in Nepal.

"So why did you come here?" I asked her.

"Why?
To have a better education, and to live in peace, freedom..." A nice
answer, of course, but an expected answer, almost rehearsed. I wanted to
know more, if the stereotypical belief that everyone wants to come to
America is a falsifiable truth, or if obtaining the real answer is like
drilling someone at a poker table. I drilled anyway.

"Did you always want to come to America or did it just turn out that way?"

"It
just happened," she admitted. "We were in refugee camp for 18 years....
People from Bhutan start war and they came (to Nepal) to run away. I
stayed in refugee camp for 11 years but them (her family) they stay for
like 18 or 19."

Due
to the rising population of the Nepali-speaking minority in Bhutan,
King Jigme Singye Wangchuck began a policy that resulted in the
expulsion of roughly 100,000 members of the ethnic minority from the
1980s to 1990s by the Royal Ghutan Army. By 2010, around 40,000
Bhutanese refugees in camps in Nepal were resettled in Western countries
like the United States due to Bhutan's refusal to allow the return of
its citizens (Subba and Mishra 2010). According to a relative 1995
article in the academic journal Pakistan Horizon, the "pro-democracy
protests in Thiumphu, a corollary of the democratic movement in Nepal,
seem to have triggered the eviction of the ethnic Nepalese from Bhutan"
(Shakoor 1995: 33).

"Do you ever want to go back?" I inquired.

"Maybe...
probably not" Krishna replied, a serious look on her face. But when
asked about the future, her positivism remained undimmed. "I want to go
to U of A. I want to be a doctor."

As I continued to weave the scarf on my own, I asked, "So how do you learn to finger weave?"

"Her."
She gestured to the women to her right weaving a scarf of her own. "My
cousin." Brought to attention, the women I now knew to be named Pompa
joined our casual banter, although her limited English produced Krishna
as our on-deck carrier pigeon.

"So when did you come here, to Tucson? I asked.

"Uh, I came 2009. March."

"Before Krishna?" I asked for clarification.

"Yes before Krishna."

"And you're originally from Bhutan?

"Yes,
yes my country is Bhutan," Pompa answered with an air of pride. When
asked about anything related to her experience in Tucson, she would
answer simply, "Yes, I like United States," as her face lit up in a
smile. Although details were difficult to extract due to the language
barrier, the message was clear; her resettlement experience has been a
positive one. "It's difficult because the system I think is good and law
here is good. Two things I don't like." With the help of Krishna's
translations, Pompa then went on to describe her dislike of the common
attire by the students at schools in Tucson and the normalcy of street
smokers, a lighthearted air to her disapproval.

Resulting
in a similar reaction, any questions about their involvement with
Iskashitaa Refugee Network, or anything related to Iskashitaa for that
matter, produced Pompa's repeated remark, "Too much help, Iskashitaa,
too much help, Barbara" Their positive reaction towards Iskashitaa's
programs and presence in their lives was undeniable. Krishna elaborated
for her cousin, explaining how Iskashitaa provides fabric to make
clothes, supplies to make the merchandise they sell at local events such
as this festival, and helps her communicate with people in the
community. Along with supplies, Pompa also acquires much of her produce
from Iskashitaa harvests, including "apples, oranges, pomegranate..."
she added with another bright smile.

As
I continued my finger weaving, Krishna noticed my length, wrapped one
end around my neck and said, "Maybe a little bit more. It's good."

Pompa
may not think of America or Tucson as her home, at least not in the way
that she thinks of Bhutan as her home, but she appeared happier than
most people I know. A constant expression of complacent contentedness
rested on her face in the time I spent with her. Other than the expected
anxiousness one feels after spending a long day in the heat, Krishna
seemed happy too. A feeling that may have been harder to come by without
a community, a home, to call her own-a community whose doors were
undoubtedly opened through the Iskashitaa Refugee Network.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Iskashitaa
has been selected as the non-profit of the month of November at
Session Yoga! 100% of class donations from Karma Sessions, held every
Sunday at noon, will be donated to Iskashitaa. Karma Sessions have no
class fee, but a suggested minimum donation of $5/person. Session
Yoga is located at 123 S. Eastbourne Ave (near Broadway and Country
Club). More information can be found at www.Sessionyoga.com. We hope you'll attend all 4 sessions!